Why wear red? Because Metro Station Policy Areas are coded red in the Subdivision Staging Policy. Demonstrate that we are much more than CBDs (Central Business Districts). We are a powerful population!

Public Hearing on the Montgomery County Subdivision Staging PolicySeptember 13, 2016

Good evening and thank you for the opportunity to testify. My name is Mary Flynn. I have the honor of serving as a Town of Chevy Chase council member, but I am not representing the Town tonight. I am testifying as the founder of the Coalition of Bethesda Area Residents, or CBAR. CBAR is a grassroots coalition of residents who live in or adjacent to the Bethesda Downtown Plan area.

I start by supporting the testimonies of our public school advocates from the Montgomery County Council of PTAs, and request that you adopt their recommendations.

Next I urge you to reject the SSP Transportation recommendation that Metro Station Policy Areas such as downtown Bethesda be exempt1 from the Local Area Transportation Review (LATR).

This is relevant to my community of 22,0002 current and 17,0003 future residents because the draft Bethesda Downtown Plan recommends that 48 properties4 be upzoned to 200 feet or higher. Six of those properties, plus the Apex Building, are proposed for 290 feet.

The LATR in its current, imperfect, form looks at the impact of individual developments on public facilities. Consider the Apex Building at 7272 Wisconsin. Metro and Purple Line trains, sidewalks, and future bike lanes will be bustling with an influx of new residents, workers, and visitors as a desirable consequence of that single building.

But do not ignore the 800 parking spaces5 that are planned for that development. Add to that the delivery and service trucks needed to keep that building alive, and you have a sizable uptick in vehicle traffic.

Acknowledge that the increase in vehicle trips generated by 6 more 290-foot buildings, plus all the remaining upzoned properties, will further congest our roads and impede access for emergency vehicles.

any type of mitigation, such as contributing funding for transit, bike lane, or sidewalk improvement projects

Large buildings, such as those typically built only in Metro Station Policy Areas, can have highly positive or highly negative effects. I argue that because of their large impact, large buildings require more scrutiny, not less.

We look to you individually and as a governing body for your leadership. Please demonstrate your commitment to the Adequate Public Facilities Ordinance by directing staff to fix the LATR, and to reject the proposal to exempt developments in Metro Station Policy Areas from it.